Buescher is beneficiary of bumping at Daytona

Jeff Siner/Charlotte ObserverWith Gatorade flying through the air, NASCAR Nationwide Series driver James Buescher celebrates his victory in the DRIVE4COPD 300 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

By Bill Huneke
FOR THE TIMES

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – If yesterday’s Nationwide Series NASCAR race is any indicator, today’s Daytona 500 will be a wild, crash-filled, and totally unpredictable event.

James Buescher was as surprised as everyone else when he threaded the needle among crashing cars on the last lap and took the win in the 31st annual Drive for COPD 300 race.

Buescher was well behind the leaders when the leaders began bumping and spinning, taking out most of the front of the field.

Buescher ducked low, avoided the cars spinning around him, and outran Brad Keselowski and Elliott Sadler to the combined checkered and yellow flags.

“We had a really fast race car and had help with our teammate Justin Allgaier and later Joe Nemechek,” said Buescher, a regular in the Truck Series. “After we beat the fenders off of it, no one seemed to want to draft with us, so we were hung out there by ourselves hoping just to hang in for a top ten finish.

“All of a sudden they all piled up in front of me and I couldn’t believe I came through there and didn’t see anyone else in front of me. A pretty incredible feeling. This track is so historic; every driver dreams of just driving here.”

The 21-year old driver earned his first Nationwide Series win in 35 starts. He led only once for the last quarter mile of the 250-mile race.

Brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch had joined up together and were drafting together in the middle groove for the win, with a line of other cars on either side.

Joey Logano appeared to try to block the Busch brothers, pinched Elliott Sadler into the wall, and cars began bouncing all over.

“I thought we had the race won and then those guys were coming on top and I’m like alright, let’s see where we settle in here, “ said Kyle Busch, who drove his own Monster Energy Toyota.

“I thought when they all crashed up high that I was clear, I shot low but then somebody tagged me in the back and hooked me dead right.

“It was a really, really hard hit, then a few more after that, and it just seemed like they kept coming. I swore when they all went up high that I could see the checkered flag I was out front, I had it won. Then within a split second I was in the fence.”

“Tony Stewart and I were drafting together, we had a ton of steam on the backstretch and were going to win.

“We were coming on the outside 20 mph faster than the others. Joey (Logano) came up on us, pinched us all in the wall. I hung a left, got lucky and found my way back to at least finish third.”

Crashing was the order of the day late in the race, with multiple car crashes occurring several times.

The first 50 laps went smoothly, with polesitter Danica Patrick leading the first two laps but then falling back into the pack.

Patrick brought out the first accident caution when Cole Whitt, her teammate, bumped her enough from behind to send her spinning into the wall, as well as into a tirade against him on her radio. The polesitter finished a disappointing 38th.

A crash on lap 105 involved 18 cars, another on lap 115 involved 14 cars, and the last lap accident involved at least 11 cars, meaning almost the entire 43-car field was involved in contact at one point or another.

“We walk a line between daredevils and chess players, “said Keselowski. “Not a lot of people watch chess matches, but they do like watching daredevils.”

“It’s a fine line for us to walk out there, and we’re probably a little to the left of the line in places like this.”

“I just get the feeling that tomorrow in the 500 everybody is not going to be as cautious as what we see at some of the other tracks,” said Sadler. “It’s the Daytona 500.

“Everybody wants to win this race. With the new formula of the smaller spoiler, the radiator ductwork, it creates a lot more pack racing and a lot of out of control cars. It can be uncomfortable being in the lead pack cause not you never know what’s coming behind you.”